😻 Bobcat brothers hear the call of the wild

🧒 Federal Layoffs Hurt Wisconsin Child CareCenters

• Head Start centers in Wisconsin are scrambling after the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency closed down the federal program’s Midwest office and fired all its workers.
• Head Start provides child care and early childhood education for thousands of Wisconsin children. Locations in Dane County are still up and running, but worry about needed federal grant funding later this year, and don’t know who to contact for questions or concerns.
• 🎧 Dig deeper: In another cut that impacts Wisconsin children, the administration slashed a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that supports schools buying fresh food from local farmers. On the City Cast Madison podcast, host Bianca Martin talks to Alison Pfaff Harris of REAP Food Group about how that hurts both Wisconsin schools and agriculture. [Cap Times, 🎧 City Cast Madison]

❄️ Less Snow Means Less Snow Violations

• The city’s low-snowfall winter has had one upside – the city issued fewer violations than unusual for un-shoveled sidewalks and other snow removal violations.
• The city received 553 complaints of snow removal violations last winter from residents, down from 866 complaints the previous winter. Madison saw 22 inches of snowfall this winter, down from 37 the year before. Complaints for excessive salt use, however, were up.
• Related: Don’t be salty! Learn when and how to properly use melting agents. [City of Madison, Madison Minutes]

⛺ Funding May Force Shutdown of Tiny Home Project

• A lack of funding may force the city to shut down Madison’s first sanctioned campground on Dairy Drive, which shelters up to 30 people experiencing homelessness.
• The camp opened in 2021 as a response to an unsanctioned campground at Reindahl Park, relying on federal COVID-19 funds to buy and build tiny shelters. But those funds are gone, and city officials don’t expect any more, meaning the camp will likely wind down by the end of 2025. [WMTV]

Between the election and the start of the Brewers season, there was a lot going on in the news last week. Take our quiz and see how much you remember!

A man was arrested on Election Night on the UW Library Mall. During the incident, he allegedly:

• Drove his Cybertruck onto Library Mall
• Smashed glass on the sidewalk
• Shouted “Free weed!”
• All of the above